This invention generally relates to bearings, and more particularly to a journal bearing for use with rotating machinery.
Typically, journal bearings are used to support radial loads and to suppress vibrations caused by exciting forces acting upon a rotating shaft or journal. These journal bearings are lubricated by introducing a suitable lubricant within the journal bearing, such as through a lubricant supply port. In the design of such journal bearings, it is known to machine or to cast a groove in an inner surface of the journal bearing to provide for leakage of the lubricant from the inner portion of the journal bearing during operation thereof. Such grooves have typically encircled the lubricant supply port such that the lubricant supply port has in the past been disposed in the bottom portion of an individual groove. Such a journal bearing is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,901,297.
Although these type journal bearings may have operated with varying degrees of success, such journal bearings have experienced high bearing temperatures, bearing varnishing, and lubricant breakdown, which all of course contribute to bearing failure.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present journal bearings. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.